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ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT AT Jlf/ 

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CAIRO, ILLINOIS ^ sT OCTOBER 3, 1907 



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WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1907 






• OCl 24 1907 



Men of Illinois, and You, Men of Ken- 
tucky AND Missouri : 

I am glad to have the chance to speak 

to you to-day. This is the heart of what 

may be called the Old West, which we 

now call the Middle West, using the term 

to denote that great group of rich and 

powerful States which literally forms the 



2 

heart of the country. It is a region whose 
people are distinctively American in all 
their thoughts, in all their ways of look- 
ing at life; and in its past and its pres- 
ent alike it is typical of our country. The 
oldest men present can still remember the 
pioneer days, the days of the white-tilted 
ox wagon, of the emigrant, and of the log 
cabin in which that emigrant first lived 
when he settled to his task as a pioneer 
farmer. They were rough days, days of 
hard work, and the people who did that 



3 

work seemed themselves uncouth and 

forbidding to visitors who could not look 
below the surface. It is curious and 
amusing to think that even as genuine a 
lover of his kind, a man normally so free 
from national prejudices as Charles Dick- 
ens, should have selected the region 
where we are now standing as the seat 
of his forlorn "Eden" in Martin Chuz- 
zlewit. The country he so bitterly assailed 
is now one of the most fertile and produc- 
tive portions of one of the most fertile and 

D 2 



4 

productive agricultural territories in all 

the world, and the dwellers in this 
territory represent a higher average of 
comfort, intelligence, and sturdy capacity 
for self-government than the people in any 
tract of like extent in any other continent. 
The land teems with beauty and fertility, 
and but a score of years after Dickens 
wrote it was shown to be a nursery and 
breeding ground of heroes, of soldiers and 
statesmen of the highest rank, while the 
rugged worth of the rank and file of the 



5 

citizenship rendered possible the deeds of 

the mighty men who led in council and in 
battle. This was the region that brought 
forth mighty Abraham Lincoln, the incar- 
nation of all that is best in democratic life ; 
and from the loins of the same people, living 
only a little farther south, sprang another 
of our greatest Presidents, Andrew Jackson, 
"Old Hickory" — a man who made mis- 
takes, like most strong men, but a man ot 
iron will and incorruptible integrity, fear- 
less, upright, devoted to the welfare of his 



countrymen, bone of our bone and flesh of 
our flesh, a typical American if ever there 
was one. 

I commend a careful reading of Martin 
Chuzzlewit to the pessimists of to-day, 
to the men who, instead of fighting hard 
to do away with abuses while at the same 
time losing no jot of their buoyant hope- 
fulness for the country, insist that all our 
people, socially and industrially, in their 
private lives no less than as politicians, 
newspaper men, and business men, are at 



7 
a lower ebb than ever before. If ever 

any one of you feels a little downcast 
over the peculiarly gloomy view of the 
present taken by some well-meaning 
pessimist of to-day, you will find it a real 
comfort to read Martin Chuzzlewit, to see 
what a well-meaning pessimist of the past 
thought of our people sixty-five years 
ago; and then think of the extraordinary 
achievement, the extraordinary gain, mor- 
ally no less than materially, of those sixty- 
five years. Dickens can be read by us 

D 3 



8 

now with profit; Elijah Pogram, Hanni- 
bal Chollop, Jefferson Brick and Scadder 
have their representatives to-day, plenty 
of them; and the wise thing for us 
to do is to recognize that these 
are still types of evil in politics, 
journalism, business, and private life, and 
to war against them with all our hearts. 
But it is rank folly to regard these as the 
only, or the chief, types in our national 
life. It was not of much consequence 
whether Dickens made such an error or 



9 

not, but it would be of great consequence 

if we ourselves did; for a foolish pessimism 
is an even greater foe of healthy national 
growth than a foolish optimism. It was not 
that Dickens invented characters or scenes 
that had no basis in fact ; on the contrary, 
what he said was true, as far as it went ; the 
trouble was that out of many such half 
truths he made a picture which as a whole 
was absurd; for often a half truth is the 
most dangerous falsehood. It would be 
simply silly to be angry over Martin 



lO 

Chuzzlewit; on the contrary, read it, be 

amused by it, profit by it; and don't be 
misled by it. Keep a lively watch 
against the present-day Pograms and 
Bricks; but above all, distrust the 
man who would persuade you to feel 
downhearted about the country because 
of these same Pograms and Bricks, past or 
present It would be foolish to ignore their 
existence, or the existence of anything 
else that is bad in our national life; but it 
would be even more foolish to ignore the 



II 

vaster forces that tell for righteousness. 



'ts' 



Friends, there is every reason why we 
should fight whatever is evil in the pres- 
ent. But there is also every reason why 
we should feel a sturdy and confident 
hope for the future. There are many 
wrongs to right ; there are many and power- 
ful wrong doers against whom to war; 
and it would be base to shrink from the 
contest, or to fail to wage it with a high, 
a resolute will. But I am sure that 
we shall win in the contest, because 

D i 



12 

I know that the heart of our peo- 
ple is sound. Our average men and 
women are good men and women — and 
this is true in all sections of our country 
and among all classes of our countrymen. 
There is no other nation on earth with 
such vast natural resources, or with such 
a high standard of living and of industrial 
efficiency among its workers. We have 
as a nation an era of unexampled pros- 
perity ahead of us; we shall enjoy it, and 
our children will enjoy it after us. The 



13 

trend of well-being in this country is 

upward, not downward; and this is the 
trend in the things of the soul as well as 
in the things of the body. 

Government in its application is often 
a complicated and delicate work, but the 
principles of government are, after all, 
fairly simple. In a broad general way we 
should apply in the affairs of the national 
administration, which deals with the inter- 
ests of all our eighty-odd millions of peo- 
ple, just the same rules that are necessary 



14 

in getting on with our neighbors in our 

several neighborhoods ; and the nation as a 
whole should show substantially the same 
qualities that we would expect an honorable 
man to show in dealing with his fellows. 
To illustrate this, consider for a moment 
two phases of governmental action. 

First as to international affairs. Among 
your own neighbors, among your friends, 
what is the attitude you like to see a 
man take toward his fellows, the attitude 
you wish each of your sons to take when 



15 

he goes out into the world? Is it not a 

combination of readiness and ability to 
hold his own if anyone tries to wrong 
him, while at the same time showing 
careful regard not only for the rights but 
for the feelings of others? Of course it 
is! Of course the type of man whom 
we respect, whom we are proud of if he 
is a kinsman, whom we are glad to have 
as a friend and neighbor, is the man 
who is no milksop, who is not afraid, who 
will not tolerate nor hesitate to resent 

D 5 



i6 

insult or injury, but who himself never 

inflicts insult or injury, is kindly, good- 



natured, thoughtful of others' rights — in 



short, a good man to do business with 
or have live in the next house or have 
as a friend. On the other hand, the man 
who lacks any of those qualities is sure 
to be objectionable. If a man is afraid 
to hold his own, if he will submit tamely 
to wrongdoing, he is contemptible. If 
he is a bully, an oppressor, a man who 
wrongs or insults others, he is even worse 



17 

and should be hunted out of the com- 
munity. But, on the whole, the most con- 
temptible position that can possibly be 
assumed by any man is that of blustering, 
of bragging, of insulting or wronging 
other people, while yet expecting to go 
through life unchallenged, and being 
always willing to back down and accept 
humiliation if readiness to make good is 
demanded. 

Well, all this is just as true of a na- 
tion as of an individual, and in dealing^ 



i8 

with other nations we should act as we 

expect a man who is both game and 
decent to act in private life. There are 
few things cheaper and more objection- 
able, whether on the part of the public 
man or of the private man, on the part of 
a writer or of a speaker, an individual or 
a group of individuals, than a course of 
conduct which is insulting or hurtful, 
whether in speech or act, to individuals 
of another nation or to the representatives 
of another nation or to another nation 



19 

itself. But the policy becomes infamous 

from the standpoint of the interests 
of the United States when it is com- 
bined with the refusal to take those 
measures of preparation which can alone 
secure us from aggression on the part of 
others. The policy of ''peace with insult" 
is the very worst policy upon which it is 
possible to embark^ whether for a nation 
or an individual. To be rich, unarmed, 
and yet insolent and aggressive, is to 
court well-nigh certain disaster. The only 

D 6 



20 

safe and honorable rule of foreign policy 
for the United States is to show itself 
courteous toward other nations, scrupulous 
not to infringe upon their rights, and yet 
able and ready to defend its own. This 
nation is now on terms of the most cordial 
good will with all other nations. Let us 
make it a prime object of our policy to 
preserve these conditions. To do so it is 
necessary on the one hand to mete out a 
generous justice to all other peoples and 
show them courtesy and respect; and on 



21 

the other hand, as we are yet a good way 
off from the millenium, to keep ourselves 
in such shape as to make it evident to all 
men that we desire peace because we 
think it is just and right and not from 
motives of weakness or timidity. As for 
the first requisite, this means that not only 
the Government but the people as a 
whole shall act in the needed spirit; for 
otherwise the folly of a few individuals 
may work lasting discredit to the whole 
nation. The second requisite is more 



22 

easily secured — let us build up and main- 
tain at the highest point of efficiency the 
United States Navy. In any great war 
on land we should have to rely in the 
future as we have relied in the past chiefly 
upon volunteer soldiers; and although it 
is indispensable that our little army, an 
army ludicrously small relatively to the 
wealth and population of this mighty 
nation, should itself be trained to the 
highest point and should be valued and re- 
spected as is demanded by the worth of the 



I 



23 

officers and enlisted men, yet it is not nec- 
essary that this army should be large as 
compared to the armies of other great na- 
tions. But as regards the Navy all this is 
different. We have an enormous coast line, 
and our coast line is on two great oceans. 
To repel hostile attacks the fortifications, 
and not the Navy, must be used; but the 
best way to parry is to hit — no fight can 
ever be won except by hitting — and we 
can only hit by means of the Navy. It is 
utterly impossible to improvise even a 



24 

makeshift navy under the conditions of 
modern warfare. Since the days of Napo- 
leon no war between two great powers has 
lasted as long as it would take to build a 
battle ship, let alone a fleet of battle ships; 
and it takes just as long to train the 
crew of a battle ship as it does to build 
it; and as regards the most important 
thing of all, the training of the officers, it 
takes much longer. The Navy must be 
built and all its training given in time of 
peace. When once war has broken out it 



25 

is too late to do anything. We now have 
a good Navy, not yet large enough for our 
needs, but of excellent material. Where 
a navy is as small as ours, the cardinal 
rule must be that the battle ships shall not 
be separated. This year I am happy to 
say that we shall begin a course which I 
hope will be steadily followed hereafter, 
that, namely, of keeping the battle-ship 
fleet alternately in the Pacific and in the 
Atlantic. Early in December the fleet will 
begin its voyage to the Pacific, and it will 



26 

number, friends, among its formidable 
fighting craft three great battle ships, 
named, respectively, the Illinois, the Mis- 
souri, and the Kentucky. It is a national 
fleet in every sense of the term, and its ^ 
welfare should be, and I firmly believe is, 
as much a matter of pride and concern for i 
every man in the farthest interior of our 
country as for every man on the seacoast. 
A long ocean voyage is mighty good train- 
ing; and not the least good it will do will 
be to show just the points where our naval 



27 

program needs strengthening. Inciden- 
tally I think the voyage will have one 
good effect, for, to judge by their comments 
on the movement, some excellent people 
in my own section of the country need to 
be reminded that the Pacific coast is ex- 
actly as much a part of this nation as the 
Atlantic coast. 

So much for foreign affairs. Now for 
a matter of domestic policy. Here in this 
country we have founded a great federal 
democratic republic. It is a government 



28 

by and for the people and therefore a 
genuine democracy; and the theory of our 
Constitution is that each neighborhood 
shall be left to deal with the things that 
concern only itself and which it can most 
readily deal with ; so that town, county, city, 
and State have their respective spheres 
of duty, while the nation deals with those 
matters which concern all of us, all of the 
people, no matter where we dwell. Our 
democracy is based upon the belief that 
each individual ought to have the largest 



29 

measure of liberty compatible with secur- 
ing the rights of other individuals, that 
the average citizen, the plain man whom 
we meet in daily life, is normally capable 
of taking care of his own affairs, and has 
no desire to wrong any one else; and yet 
that in the interest of all there shall be 
sufficient power lodged somewhere to pre- 
vent wicked people from trampling the 
weak under foot for their own gain. Our 
constant endeavor is to make a good 
working compromise whereby we shall 



30 

secure the full benefit of individual initia- 
tive and responsibility, while at the same 
time recognizing that it is the function of 
a wise government under modern condi- 
tions not merely to protect life and prop- 
erty, but to foster the social development 
of the people so far as this may be done 
by maintaining and promoting justice, 
honesty, and equal rights. We believe in 
a real, not a sham, democracy. We be- 
lieve in democracy as regards political 
rights, as regards education, and, finally. 



31 

as regards industrial conditions. By 

democracy we understand securing, as 
far as it is humanly possible to secure it, 
equality of opportunity, equality of the 
conditions under which each man is to 
show the stuff that is in him and to 
achieve the measure ot success to which 
his own force of mind and character 
entitle him. Religiously this means that 
each man is to have the right, unhindered 
by the state, to worship his Creator as his 
conscience dictates, granting freely to 



32 

others the same freedom which he asks for 
himself. Politically we can be said sub- 
stantially to have worked out our demo- 
cratic ideals, and the same is true, 
thanks to the common schools, in edu- 
cational matters. But in industry there 
has not as yet been the governmental 
growth necessary in order to meet the tre- 
mendous changes brought about in indus- 
trial conditions by steam and electricity. 
It is not in accordance with our principles 
that literally despotic power should be put 



I 



33 

into the hands of a few men in the affairs 

of the industrial world. Our effort must 
be for a just and effective plan of action 
whijch, while scrupulously safeguarding the 
rights of the men of wealth, shall yet, so 
far as is humanly possible, secure under 
the law to all men equality of opportunity 
to make a living. It is to the interest of 
all of us that the man of exceptional busi- 
ness capacity should be amply rewarded ; 
and there is nothing inconsistent with this 
in our insistence that he shall not be guilty 



34 
of bribery or extortion, and that the rights of 

the wageworker and of the man of small 
means, who are themselves honest and 
hard working, shall be scrupulously safe- 
guarded. The instruments for the exer- 
cise of modern industrial power are the 
great corporations which, though created 
by the individual States, have grown far 
beyond the control of those States and 
transact their business throughout large 
sections of the Union. These corpora- 
tions, like the industrial conditions which 



35 
have called them into being, did not exist 

when the Constitution was founded; but 
the wise forethought of the founders pro- 
vided, under the interstate commerce clause 
of the Constitution, for the very emergency 
which has arisen, if only our people as a 
whole will realize what this emergency is; 
for if the people thoroughly realize it, their 
governmental representatives will soon 
realize it also. The National Government 
alone has sufficiently extensive power 
and jurisdiction to exercise adequate con- 



36 

trol over the great interstate corporations. 

While this thorough supervision and con- 
trol by the National Government is de- 
sirable primarily in the interest of the peo- 
ple, it will also, I firmly believe, be to the 
benefit of those corporations themselves 
which desire to be honest and law-abiding. 
Only thus can we put over these corpora- 
tions one competent and efficient sov- 



ereign — the Nation — able both to exact 



justice from them and to secure justice for 
them, so that they may not be alternately 



37 

pampered and oppressed. The proposal 

need be dreaded only by those corpora- 
tions which do not wish to obey the 
law or to be controlled in just fashion, but 
prefer to take their chances under the 
present lack of all system and to court the 
chance of getting improper favors as off- 
setting the chance of being blackmailed — 
an attitude rendered familiar in the past 
by those corporations which had thriven 
under certain corrupt and lawless city 
governments. 



38 
The first need is to exercise this Fed- 
eral control in thoroughgoing and efficient 
fashion over the railroads, which, because 
of their peculiar position, offer the most 
immediate and urgent problem. The 
American people abhor a vacuum, and 
is determined that this control shall be 
exercised somewhere; it is most unwise 
for the railroads not to recognize this and to 
submit to it as the first requisite of the situa- 
tion. When this control is exercised in 
some such fashion as it is now exercised 



i 



39 

over the national banks, there will be no 

falling off in business prosperity. On the 
contrary, the chances for the average man to 
do better will be increased. Undoubtedly 
there will be much less opportunity than 
at present for a very few^ individuals not 
of the most scrupulous type to amass 
great fortunes by speculating in and ma- 
nipulating securities which are issued with- 
out any kind of control or supervision. 
But there will be plenty of room left for 
ample legitimate reward for business gen- 



40 

ius, while the chance for the man who is 

not a business genius, but who is a good, 
thrifty, hard-working citizen, will be bet- 
ter. I do not believe that our efforts will 
have anything but a beneficial effect upon 
the permanent prosperity of the country; 
and, as a matter of fact, even as regards 
any temporary effect, I think that any 
trouble is due fundamentally not to the 
fact that the national authorities have dis- 
covered and corrected certain abuses, but 
to the fact that those abuses were there 



41 
to be discovered. I think that the ex- 
cellent people who have complained of 
our policy as hurting business have shown 
much the same spirit as the child who 
regards the dentist and not the ulcer- 
ated tooth as the real source of his woe. I 
am as certain as I can be of any thing that the 
course we are pursuing will ultimately help 
business ; for the corrupt man of business is 
as great a foe to this country as the corrupt 
politician. Both stand on the same evil 
eminence of infamy. Against both it is 



42 

necessary to war; and if, unfortunately, in 
either type of warfare, a few innocent peo- 
ple are hurt, the responsibility lies not with 
us, but with those who have misled them 
to their hurt. 

This is a rapidly growing nation, 
on a new continent, and in an era of 
new, complex, and ever -shifting condi- 
tions. Often it is necessary to devise new 
methods of meeting these new conditions. 
We must regard the past, but we must 
not regard only the past. We must also 



43 

think of the future; and while we must 

learn by experience, we can not afford to 
pay heed merely to the teachings of expe- 
rience. The great preacher Channing in 
his essay on "The Union" spoke with fine 
insight on this very point. In comment- 
ing on the New England statesman Cabot, 
whom he greatly admired, he said that 
nevertheless "he had too much of the wis- 
dom of experience; he wanted what may 
be called the wisdom of hope." He then 
continued in words which have a peculiar 



44 
fitness for the conditions of to-day: "We 

apprehend that it is possible to make expe- 
rience too much our guide. There are 
seasons in human affairs, of inward and 
outward revolution, when new depths seem 
to be broken up in the soul, when new 
wants are unfolded in multitudes, and a 
new and undefined good is thirsted for. 
These are periods when the principles of 
experience need to be modified, when hope 
and trust and instinct claim a share 
with prudence in the guidance of affairs. 



45 

when in truth to dare is the highest 

wisdom." 

These sentences should be carefully 
pondered by those men, often very good 
men, who forget that constructive change 
offers the best method of avoiding destruc- 
tive change ; that reform is the antidote to 
revolution; and that social reform is not 
the precursor but the preventive of 
socialism. 



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